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Herbert Draper, Victorian Sensualist

Born in London, 1863, Herbert James Draper was a Victorian Classical painter. He made his early career on mythological subjects then moved onward to portraiture, yet it is his keen understanding and appreciation of the female form, in an age of repression, that I find fascinating about his work. I cannot think of another artist who combined Classical structure of the body with a relaxed sensuality and a deep awareness of body language as a key narrative element.

Observe By Summer Seas above and you can clearly see the difference between the two females. The kneeling figure is very Classical and pretty, hair tightly compressed in a traditional scarf, yet she seems to defer to the graceful and sensuous figure seated on the rocks, hair blowing gently in the wind. Note how Draper uses a very cool skin palette to give their skin a soft glow. It contrasts beautifully with that incredible water behind them, reflecting the warm rocky mountain. Draper perches them both on a natural rock, emphasizing the natural beauty of their feminine traits, both sensual and traditional. Draper loved the pose of the sensual girl so much in fact, that he reused it again in the painting below a year later. Note the sensitivity of the drawing in this lovely young model that posed for him:

Study for The Kelpie, 1913

The Kelpie, 1913

Note here that the mood is entirely different than By Summer Seas. Draper still uses the same themes of shimmering water with vibrant colors, interesting rock formations, with a verdant forest in the background this time. The young woman here is timid and young, just beginning to explore her own world and her femininity. In Scottish folklore a kelpie is a water spirit that can change form into anything from a creature to a human but here, Draper gives her an innocence that is individual, as if we already know her and yet she is mysterious. This kind of insight into the mystique of female beauty is in the realm of the poet. A true poet.

The Lament for Icarus, 1898

A common theme in art, the mythology of Icarus is an age-old story painted many times over in history as an ominous warning of the hubris of youth or over-ambition. Here, Icarus is slumped onto a rocky formation with three nymphs attempting to revive him but to no avail. His swarthy complexion, from being so close to the sun contrasts to their pristine light skin. Emotion is the key ingredient in these wonderful faces, and the lithesome young nymph below who leans forward eager to know his fate. The majesty of those massive warm, eagle-like wings is a testament to the hubris and yet we are secretly impressed by his ambition. Draper paints that background sky like a fiery Romantic, a Turner, as if the sun itself wants to destroy humanity. A powerful and dramatic piece.

Here is the original I took a shot of at the Tate Gallery in London last September. I couldn't remove those reflections!

A detail

Another detail: look at the facial expressions in these beautiful figures. How can this not be inspiring!!

Study for a Naiad from the Lament of Icarus, 1898

The Gates of Dawn, 1900

A stunningly beautiful painting, Draper seems to meld beauty and assertive sexuality. Aurora, the goddess of dawn, popularly portrayed in both sculpture and painting, comes to announce the arrival of the sun. She also had many mortal lovers, especially younger men, and the roses at her feet symbolize a passion without limits, insatiable and destructive at the same time. Interestingly, Draper gives her the lovely face of a famous actress of the day and in doing so also depicts Aurora without any sort of contemptuous face. He is suggesting that lust itself is not a bad thing, a reaction to the Victorianism of his day, which perhaps was on the verge of a change in attitude.

The Pearls of Aphrodite, 1907

A more Classical sensibility with Draper's gift for musical figure arrangement and body language. Look at how the nymphs on the right naively adore the glory of Aphrodite and want to be like her, adorned with pearls here and portrayed as a privileged English socialite, clearly vain and full of herself. Note the black slave fishing for pearls while the other black girl gazes up at her in awe. There is biting social commentary in this painting that proves Draper was far more than merely a painter of pretty women. This was a man who had an insight into the psyche of women unlike most artists of his day, or before. Draper understood that beauty was as much a state of mind as it is a physical trait, and that sensuality is something we feel, not merely display, that nudity can mean many different things...innocence, gullibility, confidence and yes...our sensual nature. Unabashedly, like Aurora, and without apology. We are human, and the only shame is in arrogance.

Once again I decided to talk about some Old Master drawings and delve into the thinking behind how these drawings may have been created and the knowledge of the artist. In the above drawing by Müller, done in sanguine with white chalk highlights, the figure is drawn from a low view-point, with her body twisting toward her left side while resting on one knee. Note how Müller alternates the bent right leg with the bent left arm to create dynamic contrast. The right arm is also foreshortened and partially in shadow. Expressing power and femininity, this is a study that is Renaissance in spirit, even Mannerist, revealing the female nude as sculptural yet always graceful.

If there is one artist today that hardly needs an introduction, it would be William-Adolphe Bouguereau, supreme giant of 19th century Academic art. Born on November 30, 1825 in La Rochelle on the southwest of France, his talent would define the era he lived in only to fall into obscurity for decades after his death in 1905 until as recent as the early 1980's, shockingly. Today he has the distinction of being lionized by the Art Renewal Center as one of the greatest artists of all time while at the other end of the spectrum vilified by modernists as artificially perfect and sentimental. In fact it is quite rare to see such polarization over an artist of a calibre like Bouguereau, whose bravura is difficult to equal yet at the same time thematically his work admittedly tends toward women and children, a subject matter that sold well and he had endless patience for. Over the vast array of his oeuvre, some 820 paintings, I have tried to find some of his very b…

Giant of the Rococo and early Neoclassicism, Pompeo Batoni was born on January 25, 1708 in Lucca, Italy. Immensely popular in his time, his name sadly is not commonly recognized today because like many Old Masters, his work is not defined by one or two singular masterpieces but by an oeuvre that is overall, incredible. Batoni is something of an anomaly in that he had the midas touch in every genre he worked in, whether portraiture, mythological, and biblical. He trained under a few painters, notably Sebastiano Conca yet he quickly fused his own style together by reinterpreting Classicism with his own vigor for dynamic posing, color and anatomy that he felt was lacking in many artists of the Rococo. His reputation as a portraitist in Rome was highly successful, particularly for many British patrons of the Grand Tour who had heard of Batoni by word of mouth and sought his genius.

In Apollo and two Muses above Batoni seems to conjure mythology and Classicism w…

About Me

Artists of the past may be recognized and admired, but they are seldom remembered the same way celebrities or historical figures are. My blog Beside the Easel is about recognizing great artists of the past, whether popular or not, and the reasons why their art is great. Art is a visual vocabulary and by identifying and experiencing it, our lives become richer in the process.